This is part of a series reviewing industries that have experienced greater than 40% employment growth since 2007. Click here to see the summary.Data and analysis comes from Analyst and EMSI’s fourth quarter 2011 data release. Contact Rob Sentz (rob@economicmodeling.com) with questions. You can also follow EMSI @DesktopEcon.

While much of the economy has been suffering, internet publishing has been cruising along quite well. The specific industry in question is defined by the NAICS code system (519130):

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in 1) publishing and/or broadcasting content on the Internet exclusively or 2) operating Web sites that use a search engine to generate and maintain extensive databases of Internet addresses and content in an easily searchable format (and known as Web search portals). The publishing and broadcasting establishments in this industry do not provide traditional (non-Internet) versions of the content that they publish or broadcast. They provide textual, audio, and/or video content of general or specific interest on the Internet exclusively. Establishments known as Web search portals often provide additional Internet services, such as e-mail, connections to other web sites, auctions, news, and other limited content, and serve as a home base for Internet users.

Here is a visual overview of the industry:

From 2007-2011, internet publishers added 30,000 jobs, which is 40% growth. There are currently nearly 9,000 establishments, or places of work, in the U.S. About 70% of the industry is between the ages of 25 and 44. Also, most of the employees are male.

States like California and New York have higher concentrations of these workers. See the table for the complete breakdown.

State Name

2007 Jobs

2011 Jobs

% Change

2011 Avg. Annual Wage

2007 National Location Quotient

Total

71997

100953

0.4

127638

California

26,200

37,862

45%

$179,468

3.17

New York

6,051

11,479

90%

$128,968

1.35

Massachusetts

3,928

6,710

71%

$109,781

2.31

Washington

3,088

4,840

57%

$103,493

1.97

Ohio

4,713

4,569

(3%)

$82,083

1.67

Florida

3,157

3,801

20%

$70,370

0.75

Illinois

2,700

3,429

27%

$89,680

0.87

Texas

2,234

2,991

34%

$74,211

0.41

New Jersey

1,963

2,329

19%

$99,442

0.94

Virginia

2,057

2,175

6%

$109,013

1.02

Georgia

1,041

2,086

100%

$83,983

0.48

Colorado

1,384

1,963

42%

$84,528

1.13

Utah

1,871

1,941

4%

$71,108

2.87

Pennsylvania

1,074

1,731

61%

$98,884

0.36

North Carolina

914

1,569

72%

$67,816

0.42

Connecticut

1,467

1,451

(1%)

$156,002

1.65

Michigan

355

843

137%

$110,301

0.16

Minnesota

751

788

5%

$78,353

0.53

Maryland

730

750

3%

$95,612

0.53

Arizona

697

712

2%

$72,739

0.50

Oregon

358

710

98%

$81,016

0.39

District of Columbia

635

554

(13%)

$115,002

1.75

Missouri

335

497

48%

$48,671

0.23

Nevada

407

460

13%

$79,253

0.60

Tennessee

306

384

25%

$72,945

0.21

Indiana

310

371

20%

$61,039

0.20

Alabama

172

359

109%

$51,896

0.16

Kentucky

255

336

32%

$59,914

0.26

Oklahoma

340

321

(6%)

$61,448

0.41

New Hampshire

277

320

16%

$77,281

0.83

Louisiana

145

305

110%

$55,941

0.15

Idaho

251

303

21%

$71,937

0.71

Wisconsin

227

248

9%

$64,053

0.15

South Carolina

92

245

166%

$55,562

0.09

Iowa

411

234

(43%)

$59,802

0.52

Vermont

220

200

(9%)

$44,407

1.38

Kansas

96

198

106%

$62,447

0.13

Nebraska

129

195

51%

$56,997

0.26

Arkansas

173

155

(10%)

$46,332

0.27

Hawaii

70

82

17%

$70,152

0.20

Maine

73

78

7%

$50,215

0.23

New Mexico

100

77

(23%)

$49,697

0.23

Rhode Island

63

66

5%

$79,203

0.25

Montana

32

62

94%

$41,332

0.14

Delaware

38

54

42%

$71,147

0.17

Mississippi

17

35

106%

$55,676

0.03

North Dakota

11

28

155%

$41,834

0.06

West Virginia

24

25

4%

$59,855

0.06

Wyoming

34

21

(38%)

$88,498

0.22

South Dakota

22

11

(50%)

$111,975

0.10

Clearly, California has the highest level of employment, highest wages, and the largest concentration for these jobs. In five years the state added over 10,000 new jobs, which is 45% growth.

New York added over 5,000 jobs in that same time period, which was 90% growth for the industry in the state.

Washington and Massachusetts, also with higher levels of employment, grew by 57% and 71%, respectively.

Many other states are also experiencing good growth, but the current employment levels are currently much smaller. Forty out of 50 states (and D.C.) experienced growth from ’07-11.

Next, we take a look at some of the top occupations employed by internet publishers:

SOC Code

Occupation

Employed in Industry (2007)

Employed in Industry (2011)

Change

% Change

% of the Total Jobs in Industry (2011)

2011 Median Hourly Wage

Education Level

15-1032

Computer software engineers, systems software

4,453

6,540

2,087

47%

6.5%

$45.32

Bachelor's degree

41-3099

Sales representatives, services, all other

3,802

5,255

1,453

38%

5.2%

$23.99

Work experience in a related field

27-3041

Editors

3,039

4,462

1,423

47%

4.4%

$25.02

Bachelor's degree

15-1031

Computer software engineers, applications

2,757

4,013

1,256

46%

4.0%

$42.32

Bachelor's degree

43-4051

Customer service representatives

2,758

3,928

1,170

42%

3.9%

$14.64

Moderate-term on-the-job training

15-1081

Network systems and data communications analysts

2,042

3,287

1,245

61%

3.3%

$35.43

Bachelor's degree

11-3021

Computer and information systems managers

1,890

2,687

797

42%

2.7%

$54.98

Degree plus work experience

15-1041

Computer support specialists

1,972

2,609

637

32%

2.6%

$21.42

Associate's degree

11-1021

General and operations managers

1,947

2,596

649

33%

2.6%

$45.21

Degree plus work experience

19-3021

Market research analysts

1,668

2,496

828

50%

2.5%

$29.90

Bachelor's degree

15-1021

Computer programmers

1,878

2,442

564

30%

2.4%

$34.25

Bachelor's degree

Computer software engineers, systems software and computer software engineers, applications are the most common occupations. Software engineers comprise 10.5% of the internet publishing industry. Both of these jobs pay well and require bachelor’s degrees.

Sales and customer service representatives comprise another 9% of the total industry. These jobs typically require on-the-job training and prior experience.

Seven of the 11 jobs on this list require a bachelor’s degree.

Five of the 11 are related to computer and science.

CONCLUSION

Everyone knows brands like Google, YouTube, Microsoft and the rest. Their growth has been rapid and demand for workers is very good. There also appears to be good growth in the industry sector apart from the big names. Currently employment still appears to be concentrated in a handful of states, but there is a lot of promise nationwide.